Pneumatic gun and shell-firing device therefor.



V. C. DOUBLEDAY. PNEUMATIC GUN AND SHELL FIRING DEVICE THEREFOR. APPLICATION FILED NOV.27.19.15.

13%393. Patented 001;. 30, 1917.

PNEUMATIC GUN AND SHELL-FIRING DEVICE THEREFOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. 1 Patented ()(313. 30, 1917.

Application filed November 27, 1915. Serial No. 63,811.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VrLLnRor Conner DoUnLrn-n', a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at London, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pneumatic Guns and Shell-Firing Devices Therefor, of which the following is a specilightest form, to do away with storage essels, gas cylinders, steam pumps, separate conduits between I'QSBIVOHT and barrel and other encumbrances without however impairing the desirable efiiciency p0stulated above; furthermore to obtain the latter by means of an exceedingly light and self-contained trench-gun and thus not to offset by the transport of weighty superfluities the vital advantages of finding the propelling medium at the spot of consumption.

The gun comprises a barrel and an adjacent air chamber, which are separated only by a valve, the opening of which effects the discharge of a projectile previously placed in the barrel by air or other gas supplied under pressure from the air-chamber. This air-chamber being totally exhausted after each discharge is recharged with compressed air after each discharge of the gun by a hand or the like pump, for instance such as used in motor cars for the inflating of tires. The air is entirely compressed in the chamber without the help of an ex traneous reservoir, gas cylinder or the like. A pressure indicator is provided to indicate the pressure of the air in said chamber, so that by releasing the whole of this pressure at each discharge of the gun, equal impulses and therefore equal ranges may be given to successively discharged projectiles, and different impulses and ranges may be given to the projectiles merely by varying the pressure to which the air-chamber is raised,

piece 3.

the elevation of the gun remaining mean while unchanged.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a side view of a gun embodying the main features of this invention, and I Fig. 2 is a sectional view of a part forming the breech end of the gun, drawn to a larger scale. v

As here shown, 1 is the gun barrel, 2 is the air chamber, 3 is a solid breech end piece, and a is the valve cutting 01f com munication between the air-chamber 2 and the barrel 1 through a short straight passage 5 formed transversely in the end This breech end piece is formed with bosses 1 and 2 which are disposed in direct juxtaposition to each other and are bored and screw-threaded, thus consti tuting parallel sockets for the reception of the gun barrel 1 and the air-chamber 2, respectively, the passage 5 leading directly fro-m one boss or socket to the other. The socket 1 is in open communication with the said passage 5, but the latter is cut off from the air chamber 2 by a wall 2 in which an aperture 2? is provided, the edge of this aperture being formed as a seat for thevalve. The end piece 3 is also provided with a rearwardly-opening breech aperture 6, which alines with the bore of'the boss or socket 1 and is closed by a breech block 7.. The air chamber 2 is connected to a pump 8 by a pipe or conduit 9 of a kind allowing relative movement of its ends, and a gage 10 is provided to indicate the pressure to which the air in the chamber 2 is raised by the operation of the pump 8.

The gun illustrated is shown mounted on trunnions 11 carried by a block 12 rotatable about a vertical axis on a standard 13 carried by a base board 1 1, and a clamping nut 15 is provided to hold the block 12 in the required position. A quadrant 16 and clamping screw 17 are provided to hold the barrel at the required elevation;

When the shell is to be discharged from the gun, the shell is placed in the barrel 1, through the breech aperture 6 which is then closed by the breech-block 7 Air is forced by the pump 8 into the air-chamber 2 until the required pressure, depending on the range, is indicated by the gage. The gun is then ready to be discharged and this is effected by a movement of a lever 24 acting on the stem 25 of the valve 4: and opening the latter so that the compressed air from the chamber 2 passes through the passage 5 to the barrel 1 and expels the shell placed therein, Er gun constructed as described and weighing only about 60 lbs. shows the unprecedented eliiciency of throwing a. 3 lb. grenade or shell :1 distance of about 800 yards with only about 220 lbs. pressure, a result mainly attributable to the compactness of the construction, the suddeness of release, the short way which the compressed air has to travel and the absence of retarding conduits and of it'riction-producing parts.

I claim:

1. In a pneumatic gun, the combination of a barrel; an air chamber; a solid breech end piece formed with a. pair of sockets for the adjacent ends of said barrel and air chamber disposed in direct juxtaposition to each other, and with a short air passage leading directly from one socket to the other; a source oi air supply in communication withlsaid air chamber; and a valve for controlling the flow of air through said passage lrom the air chamber to the barrel.

In a pneumatic gun, the combination of a barrel; an air chamber; a solid breech end piece formed with a pair of forwardlyopening', parallel sockets for the adjacent ends of said barrel and air chamber disposed in direct juxtaposition to each other, with a short, straight passage leading directly from the air chamber socket to the barrel socket, and with a rearwardly-open ing aperture alining with said barrel socket to permit the introduction of the projectile therethrough into said barrel, the air chamber having. an air-controlling valve at its point of communication with the adjacent end of said passage; a breech block for closing said projectile aperture; operating means for said valve; and a source of air supply in communication with said chamber.

3. Ina pneumatic gun, the combination of a barrel; an air-chamber, a solid breech end piece formed with a pair of forwardlyopening parallel sockets for the adjacent ends of said barrel and air-chamber disposed in direct juxtaposition to each other, with a short, straight passage leading directly from the air chamber socket to the barrel socket, and with a rearwardly opening aperture alining with said barrel socket to permit the introduction of the projectile rherethrough into said barrel; a breech block for closing said projectile aperture; and av valve controlling communication between the air chamber socket and the adjacent end of said passage.

4-. In a pneumatic gum-the combination of a barrel; an air-chamber, a solid breech end piece formed with a pair of forwardlyopening parallel sockets for the adjacent ends of said barrel and air-chamber dis posed in direct juxtaposition to each other, with a short, straight passage leading directly from the air-chamber socket to the barrel socket, and with a rearwardly opening aperture alining with said barrel socket to permit the introduction of the projectile therethrough into said barrel; a breech block for closing said projectile aperture; a valve controlling communication between the air chamber socket and the adjacent end of said passage; a pump; and a conduit having relatirely movable ends connecting the said pump and air-chamber.

VILLEROY OORNEY DOUBLEDAY.

Witness O. J. WORTH.

topics oi this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

